Coral Gene Expression After Transplantation to a Nearshore Urban Environment

12 transcriptomic samples from the critically endangered coral Acropora cervicornis reveal its molecular stress response after transplantation. Allyson DeMerlis published this 50.6 KB dataset in 2026, analyzing gene expression four months after moving corals from an offshore nursery to a nearshore, urbanized site in Miami, Florida. The data shows significant upregulation of 961 host and symbiont genes associated with heat shock, immune signaling, and detoxification pathways.

Use Cases

• Identify stress biomarkers for coral health monitoring based on upregulated heat shock protein and immune signaling genes.
• Compare genotype-specific acclimatization potential for restoration projects based on differential gene expression modules.
• Model the molecular impact of nearshore urban environments on corals based on transcriptomic profiles from transplanted and control samples.
• Refine site selection for coral outplanting by correlating environmental parameters with sustained stress-response gene expression.

Strengths

• Dataset includes 12 high-quality transcriptomic samples after quality filtering.
• Analysis identifies 961 significantly upregulated and 165 significantly downregulated host and symbiont genes.
• Focuses on three distinct genotypes of the critically endangered Acropora cervicornis coral.

Limitations

• Row count and column-level documentation are absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The 50.6 KB file size indicates a tiny dataset with limited scope, likely containing summary statistics rather than raw sequence data.
• Data may reflect geographic and temporal bias inherent to the single transplantation event in Miami in 2021.

Provenance

Source

Allyson DeMerlis via figshare

Collection Method

Gene expression analysis of nursery-propagated corals sampled four months after transplantation.

Time Range

Samples collected in June 2021 and after four months (approximately October 2021).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-25 04:34:51; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Key Biscayne, Florida (offshore nursery) and Port of Miami, Florida (nearshore outplant site).